McCarthy's The Road is more like poetry than narrative prose for a couple of reasons, at least. Firstly it is entirely meditative. We see this post apocalyptic world through the meditations of the father and this is characteristic of any good poetry.

Secondly, it is not divided up like traditional novels are. There are sections, but these are more like flashbacks and such. Again, this is like poetry, specifically John Ashbery poetry as we see in "The System."